DENVER (AP) — Xander Bogaerts homered and had an RBI triple during a seven-run second inning to help the San Diego Padres beat the reeling Colorado Rockies 9-2 on Thursday.
Bogaerts finished a single shy of the fourth cycle in Padres history. He had two chances but struck out looking in the sixth and swinging to lead off the ninth.
His big game was part of a 15-hit afternoon for the Padres, who took three of four from Colorado. San Diego moved four games ahead of idle Arizona for the last National League wild-card spot.
Michael King (12-9) settled in after giving up a leadoff triple to Jake McCarthy and a run-scoring single to Connor Norby. King went six innings and allowed two runs in his staff-leading 31st start of the season.
Dustin Harris had three singles and drove in three runs to help the Padres win for the 10th time in 11 games. They finished with eight extra-base hits.
Colorado's Tanner Gordon (1-5) allowed 10 hits and seven runs over three innings. His rough outing extended a streak of a Rockies starter failing to notch the win to 20 games.
It was an adventurous second inning for right fielder Zac Veen, who saw back-to-back hits to him turn into triples. He slid to catch Jackson Merrill's looping ball near the line only to have it bounce off him. Bogaerts followed with a sinking liner and Veen trying to make a diving catch. The ball got by him and rolled to the wall.
Colorado needs to go 7-2 the rest of the way to avoid becoming the first team with four straight 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 New York Mets.
Padres: RHP Nick Pivetta (2-2, 3.60 ERA) will start Friday against Miami.
Rockies: Colorado hasn't named a starter for Friday to start a three-game series with Seattle.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Zac Veen reacts after striking out against San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King to end the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
San Diego Padres' Xander Bogaerts hits a triple in the second inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder.
It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision.
Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before plowing into a city bus on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference.
Rios, 36, faces two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Castillo left four children.
“There are no words that can truly capture how much we will miss him or the space he leaves behind in our lives,” Castillo’s youngest daughter, Johaunna, wrote on a fundraising page for funeral expenses.
Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender’s office did not immediately return a message about whether it was representing her.
Reached Wednesday, her mother Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events. She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement. She could not immediately be reached Thursday for additional comment.
The news helicopter crash killed both people on board, pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.
A vigil was planned Thursday evening to honor the victims of both crashes.
There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter to go down, but investigators said significant clues could come from the last seconds of video the crew broadcast. In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video is “probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.”
Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude. The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed. He said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again.
The NTSB is also investigating the bus collision.
Moreno and Marciniw both worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter contractor, and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.
Moreno, born in Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University. She reported for several news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, NBC4 said.
Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.
There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.
A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.
A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: Adds in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.
A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash is seen at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
In this aerial view, people investigate the aftermath of a news helicopter crash in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.(AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
